English
superior
see also: Superior
Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French superiour, from Latin superior.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /suːˈpɪə.ɹi.ə/
  • (America) IPA: /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, /sə-/
  • (New Zealand) IPA: /sʉːˈpɪə.ɹiː.ə/, /sə-/
Adjective

superior (not comparable)

  1. Higher in rank, status, or quality.
    Rebecca had always thought shorts were far superior to pants, as they didn't constantly make her legs itch.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.
    1. Of high standard or quality.
      • 1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread , chapter 3:
        She always treated (her husband) as a boy, which he was, and as a fool, which he was not, thinking herself so immeasurably superior to him that she neglected opportunity after opportunity of establishing her rule.
    2. Greater in size or power.
    3. (superior to) Beyond the power or influence of; too great or firm to be subdued or affected by.
      • 1711 December 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “SATURDAY, December 1, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 237; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC ↗:
        There is not in earth a spectacle more worthy […] than a brave man superior to his sufferings.
        The spelling has been modernized.
    4. Greater or better than average.
      Synonyms: extraordinary
  2. Courageously or serenely indifferent (as to something painful or disheartening).
  3. (typography) Printed in superscript.
    a superior figure or letter
  4. Located above or out; higher in position.
    the superior jaw; the superior part of an image
    1. (anatomy, medicine) Located above or higher, a direction that in humans corresponds to cephalad.
    2. (botany) (of a calyx) Above the ovary; said of parts of the flower which, although normally below the ovary, adhere to it, and so appear to originate from its upper part.
    3. (botany) (of an ovary) Above and free from the other floral organs.
    4. (botany) Belonging to the part of an axillary flower which is toward the main stem.
      Synonyms: posterior
    5. (botany) (of the radicle) Pointing toward the apex of the fruit.
      Synonyms: ascending
  5. (taxonomy) More comprehensive.
    A genus is superior to a species.
  6. Affecting or assuming an air of superiority.
    Synonyms: supercilious
  7. (astronomy, of a planet in the Solar System) Having a wider orbit around the Sun; typically with respect to the Earth.
Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Noun

superior (plural superiors)

  1. A person of higher rank or quality, especially a colleague in a higher position.
    Synonyms: overling
    1. The senior person in a monastic community.
    2. The head of certain religious institutions and colleges.
      Hyponyms: father superior, mother superior
  2. (printing) A superior letter, figure, or symbol.
    Synonyms: superscript
  3. (Scots law, historical) One who has made an original grant of heritable property to a tenant or vassal, on condition of a certain annual payment (feu duty) or of the performance of certain services.
Translations
Superior
Proper noun
  1. A number of places in USA:
    1. A town in Pinal County, Arizona.
    2. A statutory town in Boulder County, Colorado.
    3. An unincorporated community in Raccoon, Parke County.
    4. A minor city in Dickinson County, Iowa.
    5. A twp in Chippewa County, Michigan.
    6. A twp/and/ucomm therein, in Washtenaw County.
    7. A town/county seat in Mineral County, Montana.
    8. A small city in Nuckolls County, Nebraska.
    9. An unincorporated community in McDowell County, West Virginia.
    10. A city, village, and civil town in Wisconsin. The city is the county seat of Douglas County.
    11. A town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming.
  2. Ellipsis of Lake Superior
  3. Ellipsis of Superior Craton
  4. Synonym of Superia


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